Formerly housing a brutal prison, now abandoned, the island was designated as a National Park in August 2020[2] by decree 9892[3] and managed under the Central Pacific Conservation Area.

San Lucas Island located in the Gulf of Nicoya off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, about 40 minutes by boat from Puntarenas.

There are eight known archeological sites on the island, including apparent houses where stone tools and a metal object were found in the late 1970s.

Other prisoners included Beltrán Cortés Carvajal, the famous killer of the doctors Carlos Manuel Echandi Lahmann and Ricardo Moreno Cañas.

[10] The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo began planning to invest money into tourism on the island by developing commercial spaces for restaurants, beaches, and tour operators.

[8] There is great concern that the tourist activities are destroying pre-Columbian sites and the prison's archeological significance, as well as the wildlife habitats of the area.